May 3, 2005
CHICAGO, IL — May 3, 2005 — Recognizing the grocery industry’s newest food, beverage and consumer products, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) today announced the winners of the 2005 Retailer Choice Awards during a special ceremony at the annual FMI Show.

The categories, winning products and companies:

  • Apparel — Safetrax Slip-Resistant Footwear, Footstarworks
  • Bakery — Poore Brothers, Inc., Cinnabon Cookies
  • Beverages — Lifeway Foods, Inc., Lifeway Kefir-Cultured Milk Smoothie
  • Condiments and Sauces — Melissa’s, Melissa’s Goodlife Food Salad Dressings
  • Snacks/Confectionary — ACH Food Companies, Dec-A-Cake/Crayola Icings
  • Entrees/Meal Solutions — Unilever Foods NA, Bertolli Frozen Dinner for Two
  • Processed/Fresh Meat and Seafood — Coleman Natural Foods, Coleman Purely Natural 100% Beef Burgers
  • Equipment — Fold-It Concept, LLC, Fold-It Basket
  • Health and Beauty Care — Unilever HPC, Dove Hand & Body Lotion
  • Shelf Grocery Food — Cereal Toppers, Cereal Toppers
  • Shelf Grocery Non-Food — Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Pet Collection
  • Technology — HoloDeem, HoloDeem Coupon Machine

All the products in the competition have been featured during the past few days in the New Product Showcase at the 2005 FMI Show, one of the world’s largest annual food trade events. To qualify for the Showcase, products must have been launched in the past year and they must be completely new, a category or line extension or, in exceptional cases, relaunched or repackaged.

Retailer and wholesaler attendees at the FMI Show voted for their favorite products. Votes were tallied after the show closing yesterday afternoon, and the winners were announced this morning.

For details about the FMI Retailer Choice Awards, please visit the FMI Web site at www.fmi.org.